A/N: Hello lovelies! Bet you weren't expecting an update so soon. I'm getting better about this, as I promised. Let's just hope I can keep it up. Now, on to the new chapter! Enjoy!

Ch. 7

BELLA'S POV

Breathe, Bella. You can handle this. You're just meeting her parents. No big deal.

We were coming up on the café, and with every step closer, I was growing more nervous. My grip on Alice's hand grew tighter, but she continued to skip towards the building as if this was just another normal day.

As we reached the door, I took one last steadying breath, and Alice gave me a reassuring smile and gentle squeeze of the hand. I gave her a nod, and she opened the door, then led me to a table inside. A few moments later, I heard the soft footsteps of her parents coming from the back area.

"Alice, dear," Esme said, as she spotted her daughter after entering the dining area, and greeting her with open arms. Alice gracefully hopped up from her seat beside me and glided into her mother's arms. I felt my chest tighten as I longed for my own mother to hug me like that, just like she used to. Awkwardly, I looked at my hands that were rested in my lap.

"Hello, Alice," the man I assumed was her father said, and he gave her a similar hug.

"Introduce us to your friend," he asked, and Alice took their hands to lead them to our table, flashing a brilliant smile my way.

"Mom, Dad, this is Bella. Bella, this is my mother, Esme, whom I believe you've already met once. And this is Carlisle, my father."

"Nice to meet you, Bella," Carlisle said, extending his hand.

"Likewise, sir," I said, giving his hand a firm shake, and offering a polite smile.

"Hello, Bella," Esme said, offering a hug to me. I was quite surprised by this gesture, given our last encounter, but I hugged her anyway, not wanting to make another bad impression.

"H-hi."

After our greetings and introductions were finished, we took our seats at the table. Esme asked if I would like anything to eat, on the house, and I accepted, of course. Free food? Duh.

I thanked her, ordered a burger and fries, and then our conversation began. And by conversation, I mean questioning. I knew they would have questions, but this was nearly an interrogation.

"So, Bella, tell us a bit about your family," Carlisle said. His voice was very calm, but it also held authority.

I told him I lived with my brother and father, and that we'd moved here from Forks when my father had accepted a position at the Seattle PD. I told him that my mother was deceased, and he didn't press the issue anymore, not asking what happened to her or anything like that. I suppose he knew that that topic wouldn't be very proper for a lunch discussion, but regardless of the reasoning, I was thankful that the matter was dropped quickly, and the topic changed. He began asking me about myself, wondering what I was going to school for, if I had any special interests and blah blah blah. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

Well, until he started to ask about werewolves. I looked around the café a bit nervously, expecting that someone may have heard the question, but quickly discovered that there were only a few other people inside with us, and they were on the opposite side from where we were seated.

"How did your family end up here in Washington? Or in the States for that matter? Last I had heard, the wolves had been secluded to Europe."

His information was correct. My kind had been forced to Europe many centuries ago. Back then, the wolves were not as strong as we are now. The vampires had easily reigned over them, and forced many of them into slavery. A small number had managed to escape the vampires once in Europe, and lived in the expanse of forests and mountains. Over time, the wolves began to evolve into more powerful creatures, my great grandfather being one of the most powerful of these evolved wolves.

Which was how he had managed to escape with his mate and begin a life in America.

I began telling Carlisle the story of my great grandfather.

"As I'm sure you know, a small group of wolves had escaped from the vampires after being taken to Europe," I said, and Carlisle gave me a nod, as he placed his hands beneath his chin, seemingly interested in the story I was beginning to tell. "After these wolves escaped, they remained hidden in the many forests around Europe, constantly moving and also evolving. Though the wolves had begun to grow stronger, it was still not certain that they could take on the vampires. Until my great grandfather was born. He was born with three times the strength and speed of the wolves around him. He had bred with the females of his pack to create more wolves like himself, but they were never quite as strong as he was. He knew he did not want to be part of the war that was bound to come when the numbers rose high enough for our kind to fight the vampires, so when he found his mate, he decided to use his strength and speed for escape. Without a word to the rest of his pack, he and his mate fled. They made it to the coast, and hid away on a cargo ship that was headed to Canada. Once there, they made sure to remain very well hidden, so as not to be discovered by any human or vampire. If they did encounter a vampire, my great grandfather was quick to kill. He was not willing to risk the chance of other vampires finding out about the escape and coming to take himself and his mate back to Europe. After a few years, my grandfather was born. He was the first to be born with strength and speed matching my great grandfather. Later that year, after my grandfather was born, they came across another small pack of wolves just outside of Calgary, Alberta. My grandfather found his mate in this pack, and 23 years later, my father was born, just as strong as his father and grandfather. Now, my mother was born of a pack in Russia that was under reign of the vampires still. When she was 17, her mother and father distracted their rulers so she could make an escape. She also hid on a ship that was headed for Canada, and after a few years of wandering on her own, she stumbled upon my father and his pack. They were mated, and a few years later they chose to move to America to begin a life together. "

By this point, all three of the vampires had become completely immersed in my story, Carlisle especially.

Alice was watching me with a small smile on her face, her head propped in her right hand.

"Shortly after that, I was born, and we found Jacob in the woods during a hunt when I was about 12, and he was only 9. And that's pretty much it," I said, ending my story. Everyone seemed to sit still as they let the information sink in, and soon after, my food arrived. As I began eating, Carlisle spoke up.

"What a story. Your family has certainly been through quite a lot of hardship. I would love to learn more about your species, though I'll save that conversation for another time. I'm sure you're tired of speaking," he said, and making us all chuckle. I really was a bit tired of talking. I hadn't ever told anyone that story before, and I didn't want to give out any more information on my family today. I already felt like I'd told too much.

"Now it's my turn to talk then," Alice chimed in, flashing her brilliant smile to us all.

I knew what she was probably about to tell her parents, so I braced myself, expecting the worst, even though her parents had been very kind and welcoming thus far.

ALICE'S POV

I decided to let Carlisle ask his questions of Bella before taking my time to speak. I knew he was eager to get to know a bit about her, and I wanted both of my parents to know her better before I got into the details of my relationship with her. Thinking about it all, I realized we were moving along rather quickly, but I had no qualms about it. I knew how I felt for her, and I was fine with the way things were working out. The sooner my family got to know her, the better. I knew it would make it easier if I introduced her to my parents first. As long as I had them on my side, my siblings wouldn't have much say in regards to Bella being a part of my life. I wanted them to be okay with it, of course, but if they had any problems, I wasn't going to let them stand in my way.

Bella's story drew to an end, and I prepared what I was going to say to my parents. I knew Carlisle still had many more questions for Bella, though he chose to save them for another time. I was thankful for that, as I'm sure Bella was, as well.

After Carlisle told Bella he would save the rest of his questions for later, I finally took the opportunity to speak.

"Now it's my turn to talk, then," I said, smiling to my family and Bella as I directed their attention to me.

Esme gave me her loving and motherly smile in return, and Carlisle gestured for me to speak.

"I brought Bella with me today because I wanted you to get to know her a bit. I knew you, Carlisle, would love the opportunity to ask a few questions, and I wanted Bella to have another chance to meet Esme, since last time didn't go over as well, from what I've heard." We all chuckled, and I continued on with what I was saying.

"Also, I wanted you two to know that Bella and I have become quite close. We began talking on our break at school, getting to know one another and all that, but we've grown even closer in the last 24 hours."

Carlisle and Esme both looked at me with curious expressions on their faces, but I knew they were most likely putting the pieces together.

"Over our time spent together, it seems Bella and I have developed feelings for one another. Strong feelings, at that. Which is the most important reason I brought her today. Bella and I are now together, and I hoped for you to meet her and give us your approval. "

Bella was staring at her hands in her lap again. I took her right hand in my left to calm her, and gave her a reassuring smile. I turned my attention back to my parents, waiting for their reply.

The hopeful gleam in Esme's eyes, the soft smile, and slight tilt of her head were her way of silently asking me if Bella was my mate. I answered her silent question with a smile of my own, and one quick nod. Carlisle knew what my nod meant, as well, and a gentle smile appeared on his handsome face, as well.

"Alice, I'm so happy for you, dear," Esme said, taking my free hand in both of hers. I felt Bella relax instantly, now knowing my parents weren't going to attack her as she once thought they might.

"Thank you," I replied, "I knew you would understand, but Bella was quite skeptical." We all laughed, except for Bella, who was avoiding eye contact and rubbing the back of her neck with her left hand. That only made me giggle more.

"Well, Bella, I expect we'll be seeing more of you, in that case. I hope you and I will get a chance to sit and talk more about your kind, if that's alright with you," said Carlisle, bringing Bella back into the conversation.

"Yeah, that's no problem. But I do have one request," Bella said, "I need to make sure that my family doesn't find out about any of this. I don't think they'd be very happy with it."

I knew she wouldn't explain any more than that, and I wasn't going to say anything either. Carlisle and Esme would agree to keep this between all of us, regardless. There really wasn't any need to explain anything else. They knew wolves didn't take kindly to vampires, and that was enough for them to agree to keep the secret.

We stayed at the café a little while longer, allowing Bella to finish her meal, and giving me more time with my parents. The conversation remained light, mostly talk of school, Carlisle's work, renovations Esme was making on their house, and things like that. It was just after 3 when we said our goodbyes, and Bella and I began walking back to my apartment.

"That wasn't so bad, now was it," I asked, giggling at Bella who had only now completely relaxed.

"No, it wasn't. I can't believe your parents were so quick to accept our relationship," she said.

Bella had a lot to learn about my family, still. She had yet to meet Emmett and Rosalie, and hadn't been properly introduced to Edward and Jasper. That would all be slightly less simple as our date with my parents, but I knew things would be alright once they all had the chance to get to know Bella better.

"Carlisle and Esme are great like that," I said, and we both chuckled. "Now you just have to meet the rest of the family."

"Riiight, can't wait," Bella said, sarcastically.

The remainder of the walk to my apartment was quiet, but not uncomfortably so. Once we were back inside, Bella made her way to the couch. I followed, but surprised her when I jumped into her lap.

"So, what do we do now? Jazz and Eddy won't be back for, oh,…3 more hours."

I saw the mischievous look in Bella's eye and felt a shiver run down my spine just thinking about what may have been going through her mind. I hated to stop those thoughts, but I wanted to save any intimate moments for a better time.

"Keep it PG, Bella," I said, laughing at her obvious disappointment. Within moments, though, she was grinning again.

"How about PG-13," she asked, as she slowly began to lean towards me, while also pulling me closer to her.

"PG-13 is fine," I said, barely above a whisper and just before her lips met mine.

The kiss was gentle and sweet, but I couldn't stop the inappropriate thoughts that began running through my mind. I silenced them quickly, though, and focused all of my attention on the way Bella's soft lips moved with mine.

We stayed that way for another half hour or so (I really had no idea, I could never keep track of time when kissing Bella) before Bella pulled away and spoke again.

"We could watch a movie before I have to head home. Charlie gets off work at 6. I need to get home early enough to change clothes and shower before he returns. Gotta make sure I don't smell like vampire when I see him," she said.

I'd forgotten that she'd have to make sure he couldn't smell me or any of my family on her. It was going to be a greater task than I'd realized to keep all of this a secret. Bella didn't seem to have a problem with it, though, so I didn't worry about it too much.

"A movie sounds good," I replied, "What would you like to watch? I'm sure we have just about every movie you can think of." I walked her to the shelf that held all of our movies and let her scan over them to pick one out.

Bella looked over them, but soon had found a movie she wanted to watch.

"Really? You want to watch Wuthering Heights? Of all the movies we have, that is your choice," I asked, surprised by her pick. It was the first major film adaptation of the book, made in 1939.

"Yup. This is my favorite book, but I've never seen the movie."

Hmm. Bella was proving to be more interesting than I had originally thought.

I put the movie in and made my way to Bella, who was already lying on the couch. I laid myself in front of her, and she wrapped one arm around me. I took her hand in mine and decided then that this was a new favorite thing of mine. I would love to do this with Bella as often as possible. Being held by her was wonderful, and nothing was as relaxing as feeling the warmth of her body against mine and being enveloped by her woodsy scent.

The movie was over all too soon. I wasn't ready for Bella to leave, but I knew I couldn't keep her longer. I walked her to the door and gave her one last kiss goodbye. She told me she would text me when she got home, and that would be enough to get me by until I could see her at school the next day.

After she was gone, I laid back on the couch and waited for her text. The cushions still smelled of her, and I let myself get lost in the scent of trees, rain, and vanilla.